Proprioception: What It Is and How To Improve It

Proprioception: What’s it all about?

When our ancestors crawled out of the swamp and rose up on two feet, a neural hierarchy called proprioception evolved to keep them safe and their movements efficient.

Proprioception is how we feel our bodies moving through space and place ourselves accordingly in each situation. It is what enables us to carefully lift a cup of hot tea from a side table while our eyes are glued to a screen, or a dancer to land softly and without sound or an agile athlete to navigate through a field of play. 

Years ago this would have been described as spacial awareness and there is truth to this but proprioception is so much more. Without this automatic sensing, we would need to consciously and consistently think of every action for our bodies to take and as a result, use up precious energy. Thankfully our bodies instinctively know what to do without effort, in turn allowing more resources to be put toward the movement task of the given moment, using the proper amount of energy, grip, pressure or speed to achieve the goal. 

How does this all work? 

Around every joint, muscle group and muscle fiber is fascial connective tissue which shapes the body and acts as an information highway for factors such as temperature, pressure, muscular tension and many other biofeedback markers. Our fascia is a sensing organ and is deeply integrated into our bodies, offering constant feedback to navigate tasks successfully. This allows the body to make small adjustments in real time, without thinking about it. It’s the body’s innate wisdom that helps maintain alignment and control throughout each movement. In a nutshell, the word proprioception = fascia.

Practicing proprioceptive awareness is helpful to deepen body awareness, but is crucial during exercise for maintaining proper form, balance, and coordination. Having a solid base of proprioceptive sensing reduces the risk of injury by ensuring that our joints and muscles are functioning correctly and efficiently. Most importantly, this body knowledge helps to prevent slips, trips and falls as we age.

How to improve it

Moving mindfully–either in daily activities or during exercise, allows our bodies to perceive, process and bank incoming information. But if an injury, stiffness or pain is present, our body awareness has a natural tendency to become unbalanced, focussing on the ‘ouch’. Once the acute phase passes, an injured area can become ‘dull’ or resistant to awareness. The good news is that we can improve it with gentle movement that articulates our joints and activates the fascia. The primary way to heightened proprioception is through gentle activation of the fascia. 

 We’ve evolved having higher concentrations of these connections and receptors at our joints. And joints make us move. So, the simple solution is to move our 350 joints and contract our 650 muscles to give our fascia something to sing about and in turn, boost our proprioceptive awareness.

Here’s a simple formula to improve proprioceptive awareness: practice complex, dynamic exercises. 

Complex (more moving joints) PLUS dynamic (more muscles being stretched) = improved proprioceptive awareness, better form, coordination and balance and practicing preventative measures against future falls.

We navigate the world using our five senses, but science proposes that humans have many more and proprioception is on that list. So, next time you mindlessly lift your tea cup, land softly from a leap across the stage or make an amazing athletic play, know that under the movement radar, a multitude of muscle, joint and fascial connections are working hard to benefit the total package of awareness called the human body!